Matt Ryan is glad Arthur Blank has his back

Posted by Michael David Smith on April 11, 2014, 1:33 PM EST

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Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan doesn’t necessarily agree with owner Arthur Blank that the team showed a lack of toughness by not sticking up for Ryan last year after he took a cheap shot from Saints safety Kenny Vaccaro. But Ryan was glad to hear Blank’s comments anyway.

Ryan said on 680 The Fan that he likes knowing Blank is passionate enough about the Falcons that he gets bothered when he sees a player take a cheap shot.

“Nobody is more passionate about the Atlanta Falcons and cares more about the Atlanta Falcons than Mr. Blank. And as a player, you love to have an owner that is like that. He cares. He’s committed. He’s willing to do, in my opinion, whatever it takes to win,” Ryan said, via ESPN.

At the same time, Ryan said that while he remembers the hit he took from Vaccaro, he doesn’t remember being upset about his teammates not coming to his aid. Ryan said he just needed to catch his breath after Vaccaro’s hit knocked the wind out of him, and the Falcons were just trying to get up to the line of scrimmage after the 15-yard penalty.

“I understand where Arthur is coming from,” Ryan said. “I appreciate it because he does have my back. And I love that about him. But for me, it’s not something that I’m losing sleep about this time of the year.”

It’s not surprising that Ryan appreciates Blank’s comments. It also wouldn’t be surprising if some of the other players on the Falcons did not appreciate Blank’s comments.

Tony Gonzalez made similar remarks about players not sticking up for each other. He felt he was on the receiving end of a cheap shot against the Packers and nobody stood up for him. That was the day he knew “for sure” that he was going to retire after the season.

First of all, it wasn’t a cheap shot, not even close. Slightly late, yes, but only by a fraction of a second, and that doesn’t make it a cheap shot. Second, what Blank should have been fretting about is his QB’s early slide at the 3 yard line a few plays later, when he could have “toughened” it out to get into the endzone. So, I guess it’s okay for his quarterback to take the soft way, and slide early, conceding the TD and putting up FGs against the Saints….how did that turn out, in both games?

Look for Atlanta’s defense to surprise next year. With all the injuries last year many young players got lots of playing time. With the signings on the D line, A healthy sean weatherspoon, Mack/clowney, another year for Alford and Trufant, mike Nolan quickly has a young talented defense with lots of depth.